Breaking the Class Ceiling: How Social Class Impacts Career Progression in the UK

This time, the conservative newspaper “The Mail on Sunday” devoted almost an entire page to the woman it called “a real Labor version of CJ Cregg”, the fictional White House chief of staff in the TV series , “The West Wing of the White House.”

“Social class can be a greater barrier to career progression and advancement opportunities than gender, ethnicity or sexual orientation.”

This was a small speech for a man accused of everything from plotting to overthrow Boris Johnson to spying for the British government in Northern Ireland, which she, of course, denies it.

But for me, one of the most special things about Gray is not what he did, but what he couldn’t do: go to college.

I still remember the excitement I felt when I heard a former Whitehall civil servant mention this on the BBC in 2022, when Gray was second permanent secretary in the influential Cabinet Office . That made her one of the most senior officials in the Office, just below the permanent secretaries who run the Whitehall departments.

For context, the number of permanent secretaries who never went to university at that time was zero, according to a 2019 report by the social movement charity Sutton Trust. Most attended one of two universities, Oxford or Cambridge, as did most senior judges, cabinet ministers and diplomats.

To add even more context, the proportion of the general population in the UK that attended “Oxbridge” was less than 1% and only 7% attended the private schools that gave education for most permanent secretaries, chief justices and lords.

Education is not the only measure of class. Parental roles are also important. But Gray is still a fringe in a country where a small elite still has a big influence on how things are run. The Labor Party she represents, aiming for electoral success, intends to break the “class ceiling” which, by some measures, is a bigger problem in the United Kingdom than in some comparable countries.

But these plans are not new. Thirty years ago, Tory leader John Major – the last UK prime minister who did not go to university – called for a “classless society”.

What is new is that some employers are finally starting to address the problem. In the process, they reveal some important things about working life in Britain today, such as the fact that social class can have a greater impact on your chances of promotion than gender, ethnicity or sexual orientation.

British professional services firm KPMG revealed this in a new study of the career paths of 16,500 of its partners and employees that it published just over a year ago.

The company measured class by analyzing the roles of parents of workers, emphasizing who earns the most, a method used by PwC, the law firm Slaughter and May and other organizations that ‘ deal with the diversity of social class.

KPMG data showed that workers from working-class families took an average of 19% longer to move up the ranks, or up to a year, compared to those from higher socio-economic backgrounds. Progress was even slower for working class workers who were a) women or b) from minority ethnic backgrounds.

Interestingly, the class gap reversed at the highest levels of KPMG, where working-class employees progressed faster. It’s not clear why, says Jenny Baskerville, head of inclusion, diversity and equity at KPMG. But he told me that perhaps these people were “so special” that, once they finally reached leadership positions, they “leaned into who they were” and progressed faster to a certain extent. are partners.

Despite all this, there is still a huge pay gap in the UK. One study puts it at a difference of £6,291 (or 12%) for working class professionals. It is almost three times higher in the finance sector, which is believed to have the highest class pay gap of any occupation.

Until now, regulators have avoided forcing companies to make and publish social class reports, fearing the burden it would represent in a sector where many companies do not collect the necessary data. Experts say this needs to change, as students from poor backgrounds with a first-class degree from a major university are less likely to get elite jobs than more privileged students with second-class degrees. I agree.

Organizations like KPMG show that once the background of a class is known, employers can determine who is affected and what can be done to ensure that the talented people progress. That’s just not fair. It’s also good business.